Will a redesigned East Hall be able to keep its spot on the National Register of Historic Places?

"I don't think there would be a strong case for it remaining on the list."
- Sharon Ferraro, historic preservation coordinator, city of Kalamazoo

KALAMAZOO, MI – What happens to a historic building's status
if the edifice gets substantially altered?

That's one question historic preservationists and the
architects working on the redesign of Western Michigan University's East Hall
are grappling with.

East Hall, which is the birthplace of the university and was
completed in 1905, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in
1978. The original nomination covered a "period of significance" that ranged
from 1900-1927, said Sharon Ferraro, historic preservation coordinator for the
city of Kalamazoo. That time frame includes both wings, which were added in
1908 and 1909.

But the planned demolition of the two wings this spring
complicates the issue, Ferraro said.

"I think that's a very important question," she said. "In my
opinion, and this is just my opinion ... I don't think there would be a strong
case for it remaining on the list."

Ferraro outlined two possible options for East Hall: One
would be to de-list the building and then re-nominate it. The other would be to
file an amendment to the original listing.

The second approach is the one that is currently planned for
East Hall, said Gene Hopkins, preservation architect and principal of HopkinsBurns
Design Studio in Ann Arbor, which has worked on historical restoration projects including
the Michigan State Capitol and the Federal Building in Grand Rapids, which received a 2013 Governor's Award for preservation.

"We would probably have to submit a supplement to the actual
nomination," Hopkins said, rather than re-submitting an
application. "It's important to not lose the history of the building."

The amendment would be filed after the design period
concludes in March, Hopkins said, and will go through a formal review process.
Typically, it takes six to nine months for the review. Hopkins said the
amendment would narrow the period of significance to
center around the construction of the 34,000-square-foot core of East Hall.

"It will begin once
we get through the design process here. What you'll want to do is be able to
tell a thorough and complete story of how you're touching the building: what
you're preserving and restoring and what new interventions are you
bringing to the design of the building," he said. That also will include
changes to the interior, he explained.

The question, Hopkins said, is: "What is the pure
significant piece here that you want to celebrate, that you are able to provide
the appropriate stewardship of, and still allow it to represent that historical
element of the university and the community. It is an interpretation -- you can
say it is a judgment call," Hopkins said. "But you also don't want to lose the
essence of the architecture."

However, a national expert said that amendments are
typically used in cases where something is added to a historic building, not
taken away. And usually, he added, amendments expand a period of significance, rather than
narrow it.

"I'm not familiar with an amendment that removes features,"
said Erik Hein, executive director of the National Conference of State Historic
Preservation Officers in Washington, in a phone interview. "This is an unusual
circumstance."

Hein said the fact that the wings of East Hall were
constructed within just a few years of the core of the building, in his
estimation, weakens the argument for an amendment.

"That would be highly unusual, particularly given how closely in
time the wings were constructed," he said, saying that it would be different if
there were, say, a 40-year separation. "Unless these are truly unremarkable
additions."

Hein cited a hypothetical example of a building that was
listed with a broad period of significance – say, 1900 to 1970, and then, on
further reflection, it was decided that the portions built in the late 1960s
weren't terribly significant from a historical perspective.

"You could make that argument and narrow the significance. But
it's very rare," he said.

The delisting of historic buildings also is very rare in the
state of Michigan, according to Ferraro and Bob Christensen, national register
coordinator at the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office in Lansing.

"I can't really speculate on whether we would or wouldn't,"
delist East Hall, said Christensen during a phone interview. "It's not done
very often. Usually, it's been done when something's been demolished all
together."

However, Hein said that, in his opinion, East Hall would be
a candidate for delisting.

"I think delisting would be very likely. In fact, I wouldn't
be surprised if grassroots advocates wouldn't be pushing for delisting," said
Hein. "Once it's delisted, I suppose in theory -- although I don't know of
it happening -- somebody could completely turn around and nominate the remaining
building -- because you often can nominate a building that has been
compromised. I would think it would be unlikely that the Keeper would accept
it."

Ferraro also said that, based on the plans released this
week, which included two glass additions, she's not certain the proposed
redesign would qualify for re-listing.

"I would hesitate to guess what the possibility of success
would be, because of the additions they're putting on," she said.

Kalamazoo has 40 National Register properties, of which five are National
Register districts, Ferraro said. In Kalamazoo, the most recent
example of a delisting was when the city's Historic Preservation Committee
decided to remove the downtown building that houses Gazelle Sports from the local
register about five years ago.

One of the historic districts is the Western State Normal
School Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic
Places in 1990. That district originally was composed of 12 buildings,
including North Hall, which is expected to be demolished this spring, as well
as West Hall and the Speech and Hearing Building, both of which were razed in
2013. In addition to those demolitions, Ferraro said, the Oakland Gym underwent
an extensive renovation which resulted "in a very substantial loss of historic
integrity."

While Christensen declined to speculate on the status of
East Hall's place on the historic register before the renovations occurred, he
said the Western State Normal School Historic District may very well be
de-listed at some point in the future. So far, he said, no one has contacted
him specifically about the issue.

"As far as East Campus, there's probably a good rationale
for de-listing it, since so much of it has been demolished. It's not something
that's going to happen immediately," he said. "At some point, we need to check
this out in person."

Hopkins pointed to a Bloomfield property his firm worked on as
an example of a historic building that was partially demolished but retained
its historical significance.

In that case, the building was an example of an early
settlement home that had been added onto over the years.

"Because it was so special and so unique – it was one of the
early settlement homes in the area – we wanted to bring it into its pure
essence," Hopkins said. "We actually probably removed two-thirds of the
building because it had grown and evolved and the owner of the building wanted
to take it back to a more pure, early period. It really depends on the specific
focus that you're trying to interpret and the story that you're trying to tell
when people look at the building."

In the case of East Campus, Hopkins said he understood the
emotions that have been stirred up among local preservationists.

"I have empathy for
that. It's tough when changes like this happen. I think the important thing is
to step back. You don't want to lose the essence of what originally happened
there," he said. "Yes, there's a lot of
removal of buildings and portions of buildings. But the true meaning of
Prospect Hill and the true intention of fathers and mothers that came before is
what we're saving. We're keeping the reason for being and what they originally
wanted to accomplish."